Return to Hogwarts
by Auvrea Rose
Summary: The war may be over, but it's not all freedom for George and Fred Weasley. Thanks to new Ministry decrees they're off to Hogwarts for their seventh year, and knowing them there's gonna be a lot of trouble-and romance- along the way. FW/OC GW/OC
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! My name's Auvrea Rose and this is the first fanfiction I've written in absolute ages. And while I have no idea where this is going, I couldn't get the idea out of my mind and figured the world could always do with more Weasley Twin goodness. I hearby own no rights to Harry Potter, or the twins, simply my own characters. So without further ado, let's get started.

The scarlet Hogwarts Express chugged through the English countryside, the flickering scenery passing by unnoticed by the identical faced men with red hair as they sat in a rare moment of thoughtfulness. One might have said you would've seen Snape kissing Harry Potter before you'd catch Fred and George Weasley sitting silent and alone, their faces etched with deep introspection (especially when they could be surrounded by adoring fans and hoardes of young new customers). Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had even offered them places in their compartment, but for once the twins couldn't stand the thought of being surrounded by all those people. War has an awful habit of turning even the most devoted fun-lovers into deep thinkers.

It had been months since the glorious day Lord Voldemort had been destroyed by Harry Potter and his motley band of Phoneix members and it was once again September 1st. Suddenly, a deep voice shattered the slience.

"Never thought we'd be getting on this thing ever again, eh Freddie?"

The twin reclining on the right side of the bench have a short laugh and a wide smile.

"Decidedly not, _Georgie_, but what do you expect? You try to out with style, some flair"

George grinned at his brother. "- some fireworks-"

"-a swamp-"

"Make some real lasting memories." Fred smirked with satisfaction. "And then the Ministry has to go and ruin it all by forcing us to return to the place we so spectacularly vacated." His head gave a sad shake of disbelief.

"Thus rendering out marvelous-"

"-genius" chimed Fred.

George nodded solemnly. "-grand escape moot."

"Bloody bastards" they spat together.

They grinned identical grins at each other and broke into laughter. Well, war doesn't change _everything_.

At the end of the war, when the Ministry of Magic was taking stock and pulling itself back together, they happened to notice exactly how many young wizards and witches were running around the country, doing magic higgledy-piggeldy without having completed their magical educations and half of them still underage; and all just because they'd fought in a war. Well, for the Ministry that simply would not do. And thus the Education Completion Act was passed. It stated that any witch or wizard who had not completed their education would have their wands confiscated and magical businesses closed until such time as they could present a certificate of completion.

Fred and George had spent many days fuming, yelling, and generally trying to find even the teeniest loophole to wiggle through- they'd fought dozens of Death Eaters, surely that should count as proving they were educated perfectly well enough! But even the infamous Weasley Twins had to admit defeat (for possibly the first time ever) and re-enroll at Hogwarts for their seventh year.

"Ah well, it'll be good to see the old place looking whole again." said Fred seriously, getting a glint in his eye that his brother knew meant he was thinking of The Battle.

"Too true mate" replied George, and a slight grimace marred his handsome features for a moment. His lids closed over his bright blue eyes. He could still hear the screams of the dying, the thunder of rubble as the castle was blown apart all around them, the hissing of curses flying through the air, missing them by a hair. He knew Fred was still haunted by the war, but he couldn't help but think that Fred couldn't fully grasp how shaken George had been by the war. Fred fought with him side by side, yes, but he'd never had to face the possibility that his brother would die. Try as he might to stop it, an image popped behind his eyelids that he had been trying all summer to expel. Fred's body, crumpled, three quarters of him covered in the rubble of the wall that had just collapsed on top of him, more still than George had ever seen him. He could still feel how his heart had stopped for a full 3 seconds, breath caught in his throat, frozen in disbelief. He had rushed to his twin's side, throwing his head and remaining ear against Fred's still chest. It had taken him a full two minutes of listening desperately for a heartbeat, the thud of a pulse, before he fount it.

Within seconds he had cleared Fred off and carried him to the healers, too terrified to Apparate, where he waited for hours with bated breath- heart pounding, hands shaking, more terrified than he'd ever been in his entire life- while the healers worked their magic. Waiting, to hear if Fred would live or….George trailed off in his head, a lump in his throat. He couldn't even think the word it was so painful. So lost in his thoughts, George jumped nearly a mile when a firm knock sounded at the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Nearly identical ginger heads whipped towards the door, faces plastered with identical expressions of wide-eyed surprise. Standing outside the compartment was a (_rather exceptionally pretty_ thought George) witch neither of them had ever seen before. She was tall, with long dirty blonde hair that sported several streaks of hot bubble-gum pink, not unlike the color they had seen Tonks wear so many times. Her hair fell in loose curls over her shoulders to dangle lightly at her waist. Her blue-gray eyes stared at them through the window, expressionless. They flicked first to Fred, then to George, then back again. It may have been his imagination, but George thought she may have lingered a moment longer when she looked at him.

Then without any warning, she giggled, a twinkle making its way into her eyes, and it made her heart-shaped face light up. Her full cupid bow lips stretched into a grin and she slid the compartment door open half way.

"Do you boys mind if I join you?" she asked softly, as though embarrassed she had broken the silence. "It's just…all the other compartments are jammed full and I can't stand being stuffed in a crowd." Her eyes flitted between them hopefully as she waited for an answer.

"You're a Yank!" George exclaimed in surprise. Beside him, Fred snorted and didn't bother trying to hide a smirk- George never was as skilled with his words as he was. George shot him a glare then looked back to the girl, an apology forming in his brain. But before he could speak she gave a wry grin and slid the door open the rest of the way.

"Well spotted." she said dryly. "Can I take that as a yes then?"

Let it be noted that the Weasley Twins would join the Death Eaters before denying themselves the company of a pretty, mysterious girl. The boys glanced at each other and nodded in unison.

An immense grin blossomed on the girl's face and she beamed at them; George felt himself smile back before he even realized his mouth was moving- he thought she was rather beautiful when she smiled like that, not just pretty, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.

'_Oh how poetic Georgie-boy'_ The snarky voice in his head sounded remarkably like Fred's and George gave himself an internal shake.

"Thanks boys! You have no idea how grateful I am!" And with that, she heaved the most enormous trunk George had ever seen into the compartment, whipped out her wand, and levitated it smoothly into the luggage rack before plopping down in the seat next to Fred. She put her feet up on the opposite bench next to George, crossed her dragon booted feet at the ankles, closed her eyes and heaved a great, happy sigh, looking for all the world like a contented cat.

'A rather strangely postured contented cat.' amended George. He had never seen anyone so strangely dressed, and he was rather impressed that she had managed to give off the air of plopping down at all, given the fact that she was wearing an honest-to-Merlin corset that kept her back ramrod straight.

It was a deep, violet purple with tiny flowers and stars embroidered all over it in a metallic bronze. The corset molded her body perfectly, gently covering her ample chest and emphasizing the sharp curve of her waist and the swell of her hips. His eyes swept down her legs, clad in jeans that were obviously chosen for comfort rather than style. Strange it may have been, but he also found it somehow…adorable.

He glanced over at Fred and gave his head a slow shake. His brother wasn't so much studying the strange girl reclining next to him as he was trying to surrepticiously look down her top.

With a jolt, George realized she was staring at him, her head tilted slightly to the side as though she was either slightly puzzled or extremely fascinated. Her eyes swept over him, much as his had her, and he shifted slightly in his seat, disconcerted that he was disconcerted. He was George Weasley for Merlin's sake! He could charm any witch he set his eyes on, had fought in a war, AND was voluntarily returning to school. He would not be nervous about some girl looking him over.

Suddenly her head whipped around to eye Fred, who smirked at her unabashedly, not caring about getting caught. She smirked back before saying, "Names are traditionally exchanged before trying to see a girl's chest in this country, are they not?"

Her amused sarcastic tone took them both aback and George let out a bark of laughter and began to relax, laughing at Fred as he blushed slightly.

"Usually yes," he began.

"But we've never been ones for tradition have we, brother?" finished George. "In this case however…" he sighed dramatically. "We'll make an exception."

And with that George stuck out his hand in her direction. "George Weasley"

Her eyes lit up again. "Oh I should have known! You're the Weasley twins, of course!"

The twins looked at each other in surprise- were they famous in America too?

She punctuated her exclamation by placing her hand in George's and shaking it firmly. "Izabelle Lyon, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you!" She looked into his eyes, a happy smile of her features. She dropped his hand and turned to Fred. "And if he's George, then you must be Fred. Pleasure to meet you too!" She grinned at him and stretched out her hand for him to shake. But when he grabbed it, instead of shaking it, he turned her hand over and brought it to his lips, giving her knuckles a light kiss.

"Trust us, the pleasure's ours" he said with a rogueish grin.

A tiny flame of jealousy sprang to life in George's chest as she smiled in exasperation at him and her cheeks tinted pink with a blush. George quickly stomped on the feeling, amazed at himself- he had never been jealous of his twin!

Izabelle took her hand back and turned her attention back to George. He looked back at her and she opened her mouth, but didn't speak, and although he was not touching any part of her, he noticed a blush darken her cheeks all the same. His lips lifted in a devilish little grin and he threw her a saucy wink at which she turned nearly red and tore her eyes away from him, clearing her throat awkwardly. Fred's eyes were flickering between them as though he were watching a riveting tennis match.

"So you're the infamous Weasley twins, war heroes and pranksters extraordinaire" she said, a slight strain to her voice.

Fred and George leaned back smugly in unison and chimed "That's us."

Her voice was an excited chatter- "I should've known of course! Plastered all over the Daily Prophet you two, along with the rest of your family of course. I'm amazed I didn't recognize you by your voices- can't count how many nights I listened to Potterwatch."

"Potterwatch?" asked Fred with surprise. Sure, these days everyone knew that the radio show that bolstered rebellious spirits during the war had been thanks to Fred and George and their friend Lee Jordan, but they'd never heard of anyone listening in from another country.

"I didn't know you got Potterwatch in America" added George.

She giggled at them and shook her head. "They didn't, at least as far as I know." she said. "But I haven't been in America for over a year now. I jumped the Pond when the war started. Spent every night after that listening for Potterwatch, it was a godsend really." She stated this as calmly and smoothly as if she hadn't just declared that she'd crossed an _ocean_ to_ join_ a bloody _war_.

"You came to England when the war _started_?" asked George incredulously.

"As in, left your nice, safe home in America, to come thousands of miles to be surrounded by death, destruction, and insanity?" said Fred, equally incredulous.

She snorted in amusement. "Yes, I did."

They shook their heads at her and chimed in united disbelief "You're a nutter, you are."

George could tell immediately that this was the wrong response. She wrinkled her little button nose at them and her eyes flashed with something that George was worried might have been anger.

"I am not a nutter!" she said ferociously. "America isn't really that far from England, you know. It would only have been a matter of time before Voldemort was knocking on our doorstep as well. And even if he didn't, I couldn't just stay in school twiddling my thumbs, writing essays, and searching the Daily Prophet for real news when he was out in the world killing, torturing, and trying to take over the whole planet now could I?" she shook her head and without waiting for a response continued. George got the distinct impression she'd argued this countless times before. " There was a war being fought and goddamn it, I was gonna be in it!" The light in her eyes had turned fierce. "So I packed the essentials, grabbed my best friend, bade a happy farewell to the American Academy of Magic, popped across the ocean, and joined the Resistance. After it was all over…" she trailed off and when she spoke again it was much more softly and in a tone that suggested she was going for nonchalance. "Apparently we weren't the only Americans to get the idea to join up, you see. So when the war was over, the Ministry offered citizenship to those of us who had joined up. We jumped at it, Shawn and I. Neither of us ever liked America much anyways. And just when we were getting around to figuring out what we were gonna do next, the Education Completion Act comes out and boom! We're off to Hogwarts." At the mention of Hogwarts the fog around her seemed to clear and she was once again the picture of excitement. "Not that I mind you know, I rather love school and I've always wanted to go to Hogwarts! Mama and Daddy wouldn't send me when I was little, said it was too far away for them to keep an eye on me." She smiled at them expectantly but they were staring at her with faces of abject horror.

"Love school?" said Fred incredulously. George shook his head in disappointment.

"You're just as bad as Granger, you are. Probably hate breaking the rules too, don't you?" his voice was rather morose. And here he'd thought they were headed towards being good mates.

"Hey! I believe rules were made to be broken, thank you very much! I've never exactly taken well to authority, hence my parents refusing to let me leave the country." She gave a proud giggle. "I just love to learn that's all. Well, and I do like making good grades- makes me feel all accomplished" she smiled wryly and shook her head at her own foolishness. "Though it all seems rather silly now, doesn't it? After all that's happened."

Her voice had turned serious again and tension loomed in the air. But it seemed that Fred had filled his quota of war remembrance for the day and was now determined that if they must be off to school, they would do it with as much cheer as they could muster. The war was over, it was time to start moving on. And so, he said "Oh, I dunno. A bit of normalcy may be exactly what everyone needs. That and some Weasley Wizard Wheezes." He grinned at George, who grinned gratefully back at him and chuckled.

"Too true brother. And lucky for them, they can get straight from the source"

"Oh just think of the galleons George!" Fred exclaimed. Wealthy as though they may already be, having grown up as poor as they did, Fred didn't think he'd ever feel they were well off enough. George opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Izabelle's amused voice.

"What on _Earth_ are Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"

The twins positively gaped at her in shock. She'd heard of them, but she'd never heard of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes? Perhaps they were going to have to go that extra mile in advertising after all…. Fred's head gave a shake of sadness and he vowed that rather than explain the amazingness that was his and George's creations, he'd give her a first hand demonstration at the first opportunity. This seemed to satisfy her and for a moment, quiet reigned in the compartment once again.

George's curiousity about this strange Yankee was growing by the second however, and it wasn't long before he couldn't keep himself quiet.

"So are there any more of you coming this year?" he asked.

She snorted at him. "Americans, you mean? Yes. When we invade someplace we do it properly and in large numbers." she shot him a grin. "Or at least in numbers of about a dozen. All of us got roped in by the E.C.A. but the only person I know is Shawnee."

"That bloke you left school with?" asked Fred. For some reason she seemed to find this very funny and it took her a moment for her laughter to subside. George wondered if she wasn't somehow related to Luna Lovegood. He also noticed with slight alarm that there was a tightening in his chest that he recognized as jealousy, which was ridiculous he told himself. He'd just met the girl for Merlin's sake!

"No" she finally gasped out. "Shawn is my best friend, the _girl_ I broke out with."

The tightening in his chest loosened suddenly and he felt much cheerier. A small, wistful smile had settled on her face.

" We were going to come on the train together" she continued, "Marvelously novel experience, you know, but she had…an appointment she couldn't miss. She'll be meeting me at the Grand Entrance so we can do the Sorting together thank goddess. I'm positively terrified at the prospect."

George noticed that she did in fact look distinctly paler than she had a moment before, and she gave an audible little gulp. He smiled at her reassuringly, remembering how nervous he'd been at his Sorting, scared he and Fred might be separated.

"Don't be nervous" he said, smile still in place.

"Yeah" joined in Fred. "Nothing to it really-"

"-sit on a stool" continued George.

"have a ragged old hat stuffed onto your head-"

"- and then the next thing you know-"

"you're Sorted" they finished together.

Izabelle let out a bark of laughter and did look considerably cheerier. "I'm not really worried about the Sorting itself, I'll end up where I end up. I know all about the different Houses and things, I read Hogwarts, A History for the first time when I was 12."

"Blimey George!" exclaimed Fred. "She _is_ another Granger! Imagine, another girl besides Hermione to have read it."

"Another _person_ besides Hermione to have read it you mean." George corrected. Fred's head nodded vigorously in agreement, his ginger hair bouncing on his forehead.

"So what are you nervous about then?" he queried.

Izabelle gave a long sigh and began to twirl a strand of bright pink hair round her index finger. George watched it her intently, imagining how soft it would feel against his own fingers. He didn't have much time to dwell on it thought however as she had spoken again.

"As silly as it sounds, though you two may be the only ones who understand, I'm terrified of being separated from Shawn. I haven't spent even a single day away from her since I was 15 years old, and to say all this war business has made me a bit over-protective and paranoid would probably be the understatement of the century. I didn't even want to get on the train without her, but she insisted and telling her no is like trying force a hippogryph into a sweater- it's simply not possible. And I'm nearly positive she's gonna end up in Ravenclaw." She gave a little unhappy sigh.

"And you don't think you will?" asked Fred curiously. She had said she loved learning afterall.

"End up in Ravenclaw" clarified George at her wrinkle of confusion.

"Before all this started- before duels to the death, before spending months hiding out in various woods all over England avoiding Snatchers and killing Death Eaters, before I knew what it was like to actually worry for someone's life every day-"

George noticed she didn't say 'worry for my life'. The more he heard her talk about this Shawn, the more he was realizing how very attached she was to her. Perhaps as much as he was to Fred. There was a hint of shadow in Izabelle's eyes that hinted she was all too familiar with the same fear George was. Quickly he turned his attention back to her, lest he miss anything.

" Before all that, I'm almost positive I would've been in Ravenclaw. I always thought I was more brains than brawn. But now…now I can't seem to help thinking that just learning things isn't any good if you don't have the guts to put them into action. I expect I'll end up in Gryffindor. I've got the last name to match and all." And once again her face was lit by an amused smile.

George and Fred couldn't contain their grins, they'd be lying if they said they hadn't hoped she held expectations for Gryffindor.

"Smashing house, Gryffindor is." proclaimed Fred proudly. George nodded in agreement and shot Izabelle a wide smile that set a tingling throughout her body. She shifted in her seat minutely.

"All the best ones end up Gryffindor anyway" said George with a wink. Izabelle laughed.

"Don't need to ask what house you two are in then" she said dryly. George had a rather witty comeback on the tip of his tongue, if he did say so himself, but before he could use it she had glanced out the window and given a surprised gasp.

Twin heads swiveled towards the window, hands on their wands. It wasn't so very long ago that a reaction like that meant Death Eaters or Dementors outside the train. They relaxed when they realized there was nothing there and they noticed that the sky was swiftly turning a dark purplish blue.

"Gracious we must be nearly there!" Izabelle blurted, an expression between elation and terror warring on her delicate features. "We need to get changed! And since I'm the odd one out, I'll go change in the loo." And with that she sprang out of her seat, accio'd her school robes from her trunk and had disappeared down the corridor, leaving Fred and George gaping after her.

"She's a strange one, she is. Interesting, but strange." said George thoughtfully as he and Fred were putting on their robes. Fred hummed his agreement.

"And words like 'loo' just do not sound right in that accent." he said solemnly, giving a little shudder.

George let out a chuckle and fastened the last button on his black dragon skin coat. Back at school he may be, but he was NOT giving up his beloved jacket. Opposite him, Fred did the same, their movements almost a perfect mirror image.

It was moment like this, little ones that didn't really mean anything, when George was hit with the immensity of his brother being alive and how awful it would've been if he weren't; if George had been forced to sit in this compartment alone, dreading the journey to the place that held so many painful memories. He rather thought he may not have even bothered coming back to Hogwarts, he'd probably be buried in a bottle of firewhisky somewhere, at the very least.

Thankfully, he was shaken from his unhappy thoughts by Izabelle's return.

She looked mostly like everyone else now, decked out in her black Hogwarts uniform, except for that bright pink hair. As George looked down he noticed she had also left on her dragon skin boots- they were formed perfectly to her calves, as though they had been molded by years of use.

'Or a year of war' thought George darkly. But he had to admit it was a good look for her and when he noticed she was watching him look at her feet he quirked his eyebrow at her.

She sent him a small, slightly embarrassed smile as though he had just caught her with her childhood security blanket and gave a little one shouldered shrug.

At that moment the train gave a shudder and halted to a stop. They had arrived at Hogsmeade station.

Izabelle let out a squeal of delight. "we're here!" she exclaimed gleefully. She immediately made towards the door and threw it open. She was out of the compartment and starting down the hall before Fred and George had even left their seats.

Shaking their heads at the foolishness of school-lovers everywhere, they grabbed their bags and stepped into the corridor. Izabelle was waiting for them halfway down the train, giving a sigh of relief when they caught up to her.

"I just realized- I have no idea where I'm going. I just know I'm supposed to go in the carriages, it said so in my letter" she said helplessly. The twins laughed at her looking so distressed then took up a place on either side of her, each throwing an arm over her shoulders.

"Don't worry Izzy" began George but he stopped when she arched an eyebrow at him. "What, not fond of Izzy?"

She wrinkled her nose at him but he could tell she was also fighting a grin, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"Not normally, no, I'm more of a Belle person. But if you feel you must…" she let out a put-upon sigh, but George had a feeling that she was secretly pleased with the nickname and he resolved to use it. Besides, the name Belle had him almost physically fighting his own tongue from screaming 'ding-dong' jokes. And he didn't think she'd appreciate that.

Fred snorted softly next to him as though he was following the same thought process, which he probably was.

They had been off the train and steering through the monstrous crowd covering the platform for a few moments now and George could see the carriages finally coming into view ahead. Of course, he was probably at a slight advantage, his powerfully built 6 foot 3 frame towered over most of the student body. Soon enough though they had reached the cluster of carriages and the oddly beautiful thestrals that pulled them.

He eyed them curiously, he'd never been able to see them before the War.

As he looked around, he noticed that a lot more students were eyeing the creatures than there would normally be. But then again, there'd been a much greater opportunity to watch someone die than there would've normally been.

Fred pointed out a carriage that didn't have a gaggle of students in front of it, and they quickly sped towards it before it could be snatched up. Izabelle walked up to their thestral with a soft, adoring look on her face and reached out a hand to lovingly stroke it's leathery looking neck. When it didn't attack her or startle in any way, she moved closer and bent her face next to it. She seemed to be crooning to it.

The twins watched her cuddle the gruesome beast with eyebrows raised. Was she somehow related to Luna Lovegood _and_ Hagrid? She certainly just got weirder and weirder.

With a happy sigh she turned from the thestral and hauled herself into the carriage.

"Well?" she asked impatiently. "Are you getting in or not?" The twins couldn't help but laugh at her wide grin and roll their eyes, but they stepped up into the carriage all the same. With a jolt their thestral started forward and then they were off towards the school, Izabelle literally bouncing in her seat.


	3. Chapter 3

The carriage ride was as jolting as ever, reminding them why Muggles had invented cars as they rattled in their seats. But the ride seemed to fly by and before they knew it they were getting out of the carriage and standing in front of the Hogwarts entrance. Small clusters of students were hanging nervously around, some chatting softly between themselves.

George noticed they all talked with American accents, a sound so strange at Hogwarts he almost shook his head in wonder. Izzy stopped moving forward and scanned the crowd anxiously, her hands wringing together. George knew the moment she had found her friend. Her whole body stilled and then strung itself tighter than a watch spring (his dad would be proud of him for that one) as an enormous grin took over her face.

His looked in the direction she was staring towards and noticed a small girl standing apart from the crowd, her back to them as she surveyed the lake, the lights from the torches flickering off her extremely long blonde dreadlocks.

It seemed Izzy could not contain herself any longer and she blurted out a loud cry.

"Shawn!"

The girl looking at the lake spun around immediately.

"Belle!" she cried at once and then she was off, running as though her life depended on it. As a whoosh of air went past him George realized that Izzy had taken off as well and they met each other in the middle with an audible thud.

Their arms wrapped instantly around each other and Izzy lifted Shawn up into a spinning hug. Shawn laughed joyously as she was set on her feet. For a few moments they just stared at each other grinning like fools, then Izzy reached out and twirled her finger around one of the two undreaded streaks that hung around her face.

"Hey princess." she murmured so softly he could barely hear her, a soft smile on her face. Shawn grinned up at her- she was at least 5 inches shorter than Izzy, the top of her head just clearing her shoulders.

"Hey cupcake." she responded just as softly. Izzy let out a short laugh and slowly dropped her hand away. Fred and George glanced at each other. She'd said they were best friends, but if they didn't know any better they'd swear this was a much more intimate moment. Their contemplation was interrupted when Izzy spoke again, this time in a normal voice.

"There's some people I'd like you to meet. You'll love them." she said.

"Really? You met new people and you actually _like_ them? This I have to see" Shawn responded, her eyebrow arched. With an arm slung over Shawn's shoulder, Izzy steered her towards the twins.

She stopped right in front of them and they got their first really good look at this Shawn person they'd heard so much about on the train. Her slight figure and small, delicate face with its happy grin gave her look of a pixie. Her hair only added to the wildness, thick dreadlocks of blonde falling in long ropes to her hips, except for the two regular pieces up front that waved softly in the breeze coming off the lake. Her hazel eyes were warm as they looked up at them but Fred noticed a distinct glint of steel in there as well.

He had a feeling that Shawn was just as protective of Izzy as Izzy was of her.

"Shawn, this is Fred and George Weasley. George, Fred, this is Shawn" Izzy announced, pointing at each twin respectively.

Once upon a time this introduction would hardly have counted for anything as the boys could've switched places on them at any time, but these days there were noticeable differences between them.

George's bright red hair was longer, flopping over his eyes in the wind, and it hung shaggily to just past his missing ear. Fred had decided to keep his hair short, leaving the scar running through his left eyebrow-the only evidence of his near death- starkly visible.

Shawn's eyes lit up just as Izzy's had when they first introduced themselves.

"The Weasley twins!" she exclaimed in surprise with an accent that matched Izzy's. "Belle, I am impressed!" and she did indeed shoot her an impressed look. She thrust her hand towards George and shook it with two firm pumps when he reciprocated.

"Shawn Vulpis, very pleased to meet you, really" she said earnestly, sticking her hand out for Fred. When Fred took her hand and kissed her knuckles as he had to Izzy,

"The pleasure is ours." he said again.

Shawn's eyes shot up to his, two tiny spots of pink appearing high on her cheeks as Fred grinned charmingly at her. She giggled a little nervously and dropped his hand, though it seemed a bit reluctant.

Izzy and George were looking back and forth between them, much as Fred had been with them earlier. But the moment seemed to pass when Shawn shot a question at Izzy.

"Ready for the Sorting?"

She asked this with a knowing smirk on her face that suggested she was fully aware of how nervous the taller girl was about the whole thing. Sure enough Izzy paled a little and gave her a dirty glare.

"No." she said forcefully. "But it must be done and I'll be damned if I survived a war just to be intimidated by some old hat."

Her declaration was met with snorts of laughter all around. With a sigh she released her hold on Shawn and addressed the twins.

" You two had better get inside, I think the feast is about to start."

When they looked around, sure enough the crowd had thinned and now there were only about a dozen people standing around, all looking rather nervous as they waited for Professor Flitwick (now Deputy Headmaster to Headmistress McGonagall) to collect them for the Sorting.

The twins shot the girls identical grins at their anxious expressions.

"Right you are, _Izzy_" George said, putting emphasize on the nickname. She twisted her lips in amusement.

"Save us a spot at the table?" she asked him softly, her lovely blue-gray eyes locking with his deep aqua ones. "Just in case, you know."

"'Course" he replied, just as softly. He couldn't seem to look away from her, she was staring at him so intently.

"Besides," interjected Fred loudly, throwing an arm around his twin and breaking the spell. "Can't chance you sitting next to and getting cozy with some other dashing English blokes." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

The girls burst laughter that was absolutely identical. Fred and George grinned- they seemed to very nearly be female, American versions of themselves and they couldn't help but laugh as they were finally given a small idea of what people experienced in their own presences.

"Meet you in there then." said Shawn. She seemed to be talking to Fred in particular, but it was difficult to tell.

"Good luck" the twins chorused together, and turned to head into the school. At the threshold, George looked back to see them both watching them with the same tilt to their heads, the one he had seen when Izzy first popped unexpectedly into their compartment and their lives. He shot Izzy a wink, at which she blushed furiously.

Before he had fully turned, he faintly heard Shawn asking " You let him call you _Izzy_?" with such incredulousness he got the impression that most people got hexed for using that particular nickname. He didn't catch Izzy's reply, but smirked to himself all the same. So he was the only one she allowed to call her that, huh? And looking rather elated, he followed Fred to the Great Hall and the Gryffindor table.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, still not entirely sure where this is going, but I think it's shaping up rather well so far. Thank you so much to those of you that have added me to your favorite stores and alerts list! Now if I could just get some reviews I'd be a gooey puddle of happiness. And now, here's chapter 4.

It really was immensely strange to be entering these walls as students again, thought George as the twins settled into their seats at the Gryffindor table and nodded a hello to Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione seated next to them. Ron looked at them with unabashed surprise.

"I still can't believe you two agreed to finish school" he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well we couldn't very well give up our wands-" said Fred with a look of disgust.

"- or our shop." added George.

"Now could we?" they finished together. Ron looked as though he were going to say something sarcastic but quickly closed his mouth when Hermione shoved a not-so-subtle elbow into his side. Ron gave her an apologetic glance. The twins snickered.

"I think it's wonderful you're finishing your education" she told them, a proud look on her face not unlike Mrs. Weasley's when they had told her their plans to return.

The twins rolled their eyes but grinned good naturedly.

"Of course you do" they chorused. Fred shot George a pointed look.

"I think Granger is going to get along fabulously with our new friends George, don't you think?"

George pretended to ponder the statement. "I dunno Freddie. Just because they both love school and have both read Hogwarts, A History..."

Ron stared at them, astonished. "You two made friends that like _school_?"

The twins put on an affronted look.

"We make all kinds of friends, I'll have you know, Ronniekins" said Fred.

"And they're American" added George.

"Americans?" asked Hermione excitedly. "We've never had Americans had Hogwarts before! And they've read Hogwarts, A History?" She seemed giddily excited at the very prospect.

Her exclamation was met with rolling eyes and snorts of laughter.

"Yes, Americans" confirmed George.

"But for now, they're our Americans" added Fred. And with that, they propped their feet up on the seats opposite them so that they would be saved- just in case- and let the gleeful chatter of the students wash over them as they waited for the Sorting to begin.

They didn't have to wait very long. Within ten minutes, Professor Flitwick came bustling into the Great Hall, the top of his point hat barely visible he was so small, and a hush fell over the students. They had never seen such a strange Sorting procession. The tiny first years up front were nothing new, but the tall, obviously older Americans following behind them caused an upswell of hushed whispering.

George noticed Izzy standing near the front of the group, her eyes sweeping rapidly around the Hall and he waved a little. Her wide eyes found him amidst the sea of others and she sent him a weak smile and tiny wave back, barely a waggle of her fingers. He thought she looked awful nervous.

He turned to Fred, who was giving Shawn an encouraging smile as she stood at the very end of the line, shifting nervously on the balls of her feet. Shawn flashed him a tiny smile back and took a deep breath before turning her attention back to the front of the Hall.

Professor Flitwick levitated the Sorting Hat and its stool, as it stood a full foot above him, to its proper place in front of Professor McGonagall, seated in the throne-like Headmistress's chair.

The rip at the brim opened wide and began to sing its welcome song, something about triumph through unity and how accepting different people only strengthened them. George assumed it was talking about the new Americans waiting to be Sorted, but he was only half listening, too intent on finding out which house his new friends got put in. He thought it odd that they were allowed to do so at such an advanced age, but with an internal shrug he figured that with war comes change and allowances must be made.

Finally the song was done and Flitwick began to call them up one by one. The hat cried out its decision for each one and they hurried to their seats, though there were very few additions to Slytherin this year. Fred gave a grunt of impatience.

At last (it seemed like an hour already since they'd entered the hall) Flitwick called out "Lyon, Izabelle!"

Izabelle started forward, all trace of nervousness gone as she visibly steeled her back and breathed in sharply. She sat on the stool and Flitwick floated the Hat to rest on her head. For a few moments that seemed to last an eternity to George the hat remained completely silent and Izzy sat expressionless, staring straight ahead of her, unseeing. It looked as though she were having an argument with the hat.

This possibility did not surprise George in the slightest. He may have only known her for a few hours, but he could already tell that she was the kind of girl who got what she wanted- he could see it in the set of her shoulders, the glint in her eyes, and the way she seemed to effortlessly ignore everything around her, completely immersed in her 'discussion' with the Hat.

Finally, finally the rip at the brim open wide and George felt a small tingle of anticipation run through him.

"Gryffindor!" it shouted firmly and both twins let out a joyous whoop.

Izzy's eyes refocused, directly on Shawn, and she gave a satisfied smile. Obviously, whatever the argument had been, she had won. She lifted the Hat off her head, slipped off the stool, and swiftly made her way towards the Gryffindor table, which was full of people clapping politely and shooting her curious looks. All except Fred and George, who were waving enthusiastically towards the seats they had saved.

She plopped down in the seat across from George with a heaving sigh of relief and beamed at them both.

"Damn thing tried to put me in Slytherin, can you imagine?" she whispered to George, who looked appalled at her announcement as another American sat on the stool, looking terrified. "It caved pretty easily though, after we had a few words." The smirk of triumph on her face made George's stomach do a weird flippy thing. The smug look slipped off her face a few minutes later though when Flitwick cried "Vulpis, Shawn!" and her back went as straight with tension as it had in her corset.

George nudged her foot with his under the table. "Don't worry so much" he whispered, again reminded of the fear of his and Fred's Sorting. She shot him a grateful smile for an instant, but her attention never wavered from where Shawn was having the Hat placed on her head, an expression of determination on her face.

The Hall was quiet. Izzy's lips were moving rapidly in what George realized were pleas to a higher power. His lips quirked up in amusement. Fred looked at her and snickered quietly for a moment, but fast as anything his attention was just as firmly riveted on Shawn as Izzy's was.

"Please say Gryffindor, please say Gryffindor" she chanted over and over almost inaudibly.

Thankfully, the Hat didn't take much longer. Only three seconds later the rip was opening, and its cry of "Gryffindor!" rang through the hall. Shawn hopped off the stool with a relieved look on her face and Flitwick levitated it away.

Shawn arrived at the Gryffindor table and took her seat next to Izzy to whoops of excitement from Fred and George, politely curious looks and clapping from the Potter gang, and a bone crushing hug from Izzy.

"I thought you'd go to Ravenclaw for sure!" she said happily, posture now fully relaxed and with a Cheshire cat grin on her face.

Shawn shot her a smug smile of her own. "It tried" she said. "But after you went Gryffindor I couldn't bear the thought of it. It didn't take very much to talk it round to my way of thinking."

She turned abruptly to Fred. "When does the food get here?" she asked bluntly, all fear and nervousness obviously forgotten. "I'm absolutely starving!"

He laughed at the completely serious expression on her face. "Just about…"

"now!" said he and George together with a grin as the tables suddenly groaned under the massive weight of the food that magically appeared, every dish giving off a scintillating aroma. Shawn immediately grabbed several dishes and spooned herself small portions of each.

Izzy's wide eyes scanned up and down the table in disbelief, as though she had never seen so much food in all her life. Her eyes stopped their swift movement on a dish right next to George's right elbow and her whole face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Shepard's Pie!" she exclaimed in utter delight. George stared in amazement as she stood and bent almost completely over the table, grabbing the dish of Shepard's Pie and plopping it next to her plate. She served herself a huge portion and without any further ado tucked into it. George didn't think he'd ever seen anyone so excited at the prospect of food besides Ron.

Fred, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were all staring at her, but she seemed to have forgotten that anything existed besides what was on her golden plate. Their eyes swiveled as one towards Shawn when she gave a snort of laughter between bites at their expressions.

"She doesn't eat when she's nervous, and she's been nervous about this for days." she explained. "I may be starving, but she's ravenous, and she really loves her food."

This explanation seemed to satisfy everyone because they all gave grins of understanding (especially Ron, who's mouth was also stuffed full) and turned their attention towards loading their own plates.

Quiet reigned throughout the Hall as everyone gorged themselves on the Hogwart's house elves' delectable creations.

Half an hour later, Izzy stopped inhaling her second helping of shepard's pie to drink from the until now ignored golden goblet in front of her. She took a deep gulp from it and suddenly her eyes screwed up, her nose wrinkled, her mouth twisted in disgust, and she glared at the goblet as though it had deeply offended her. The expression was just so adorably hilarious George couldn't contain himself and burst into uproarious laughter.

"Ughh! What is this stuff?" she looked wildly at George for an explanation. She had to wait until his laughter had finally subsided to get her answer.

"It's pumpkin juice" he said, clutching the stitch that had formed in his side. He hadn't laughed this much since before the War.

"Well it's awful!" she announced. She brought her wand up and performed a complicated little figure eight kind of motion. Cautiously she picked up the goblet again and sniffed at its contents. A pleased smile appeared and she quickly took a slow but steady drink.

"That's much better!"

George looked curiously into her goblet, but couldn't really see anything.

"What did you just change that into?" he queried.

"Wine." she said, looking pleased with herself. George understood why- it was a rather complicated spell that he and Fred had never quite managed to get the hang of, even with their extraordinary talents.

"Really?"

"Taste for yourself" she said confidently and handed him her goblet. Sure enough, when the liquid hit his tongue, it held the sweet tangy taste of a rather fine white zinfandel.

"Wicked!" he exclaimed, eyeing her with deep admiration. "That's a tricky bit of magic, that is. Oi! Fred! Come taste what Izzy's done!"

Fred was about to make a comment about how truly dirty that sounded out of context but before he got the chance, George had thrust the goblet into his hand and begun raising his hand to his mouth for him. Thinking it was better to just go with it rather than attempting to fight his brother off and possibly choke, he allowed George to control his movement and took a small taste from the cup.

Immediately his eyes widened and he took a bigger drink, eyeing Izzy with a look of admiration that mirrored his twin's.

"How did you learn to do that?" he asked in awe. "We've been trying to master it for ages!"

Shawn answered for her as Izzy had just stuffed another forkful of pie into her mouth. "She taught herself in our sophomore year."

"That's fifth year, for you Europeans" she explained at their confused faces. "Anyway, she'd been harping on and on about how she was sick and tired of drinking milk and soda with dinner, so she started trying to turn it into wine. She'd only been at it for a week or two when the teachers found out and of course they forbade her from continuing her…experiment. Which of course got Belle's feathers all ruffled and she said 'screw you, I dare you to stop me', learned how to do it within another 3 days and proceeded to turn her water into wine at every meal. Thought it was gloriously funny. Oh they were pissed when they eventually found her out! Gave her a month's worth of detention- _again_- which of course had no effect whatsoever." Shawn gave a sigh of exasperation, but her expression was fond when she turned to look at Izzy, who swallowed her food and gave a wide unrepentant grin.

Hermione looked over at Izzy for moment and opened her mouth as though she couldn't decide whether to ask how'd she'd managed it or scold her for creating alcohol inside school walls, but was saved from having to decide by Harry, who pulled her back into their huddled conversation.

Fred rolled his eyes at them- always the same, those 4, whether they were in danger or not it seemed. The war was over but they were still as thick as thieves and secretive as ever. The only difference was that instead of the Golden Trio, Ginny had made it the Golden Quartet.

"Told you I had issues with authority" Izzy was saying to the twins, still looking remarkably pleased with herself. George gazed at her in near adoration, his mind whirring with the possibilities of what the four of them could accomplish together if they had a talent for magic and rebellious streak to match his and Fred's, as it so seemed.

The feeling only intensified as Izzy began her retribution to Shawn's tale by bringing up a time Shawn had apparently gotten a week's worth of detention with her when they'd been found breaking into a teacher's office in search of some confiscated items.

Shawn didn't look nearly as pleased as Izzy did to have gotten in trouble, but there was a small smirk on her face nonetheless, as though at least the memory was precious.

Fred looked over and noticed George looking at him, and they shot each other face cracking grins.- these girls had definite potential.

'Maybe" thought Fred, 'There'll be two Golden Quartets running around Hogwarts this year.'

He met Shawn's eyes as they stared at him over her cup and they smiled at each other at the same time. He was discovering that being forced to come back to school was gonna be a lot more exciting than he'd originally planned.

Grinning at the thought, he heartily tucked into the delicious looking treacle pudding that George had just dropped onto his plate.


	5. Chapter 5

George Weasley let out a contented yawn and gently patted his pleasantly full stomach as he stood with Fred, Izzy, and Shawn, waiting for the entrance to clear of the mass of students heading off to their respective common rooms. Izzy was bouncing impatiently on the balls of her feet, dying to finally get a good look at the inside of Hogwarts Castle, the school she had dreamed of for so many years.

Shawn's hand shot out and settled itself on her forearm, surprising Izzy into stillness.

"Calm down Izabelle." she said with an indulgent smile. "Hogwarts Castle has stood here for over a thousand years- it won't be any different in 15 minutes than it is now, so just wait. Unless of course you _want_ to try and push through that crowd."

George snorted when Izzy gave her a little growl.

"You know I don't wanna have anything to do with that… that throng of people!" she snapped with an offended huff, but she did not recommence her bouncing all the same. She looked sideways at Shawn.

"How is it that you can always tell me to do something and I just do it? Never before in my life have I ever followed orders." she said with her nose scrunching into an irritated wrinkle.

Shawn winked at her, her face the picture of satisfaction, her deep hazel eyes glinting with mischief.

"Because you love me. And no one else will put up with you." she said matter-of-factly.

"Why, you-" Izzy cut off her retort to poke Shawn sharply in the side. "Keep that up and I won't love you for much longer." she said, but there was no real threat in her voice and a rueful smile was on her full lips. She threw her arm around Shawn's shoulders again, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Snickers of laughter brought her eyes up and around to the tall flame-haired twins standing just behind them.

"And what, exactly, is so amusing?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Nothing" chorused the twins with expressions of innocence, but it was ruined by the bright, knowing grins on their faces.

"It's just…listening to you two is like listening to a female, American version of us." said Fred.

George nodded, but he couldn't help the tiny voice at the back of his head that noted sometimes they acted less like him and Fred and more like Angelina and Katie when they finally took their relationship out of the closet. He hadn't seen any snogging yet though, so for now he ignored it with a shrug, determined to keep a close eye out for any undue signs of affection, and turned his attention back to the huge wooden doors. Which turned out to be excellent timing as he watched the last student exit the hall, a tiny first year who was running full out in his attempt to not get left behind. He heard Fred chuckle.

"Well come on girls, the crowds have gone, our stomachs are full, and there's a nice warm fire and cushy sofas waiting for us in the common room." he said with longing in his voice.

Izzy gave a delighted squeal at finally being allowed to view at least a part of the castle without the jostle of hundreds of students squishing her. Shawn shook her head in fond exasperation and gave her a little shove, dislodging the arm around her shoulders.

"Well go on already" she said, a twinkle in her eye at her friend's excitement.

Izzy flashed her a wide grin and then strode in long steps through the double doors, barely waiting for them to join her, her neck already twisting every which way.

She stopped when she got to the foot of the stairs and turned back, looking up at the twins with an embarrassed half smile.

"This way?" she questioned, motioning up the stairs.

"There you go getting all ahead of yourself again" said George, his head shaking mockingly.

"Do all Yanks have a tendancy to set off places without knowing where they're going, or is it just you?" asked Fred. At his side Shawn let out a bark of laughter.

"Trust me, it's her" she said. "If I had a nickel for every time I had to sit through the 'we're not lost, we're just having an extra adventure, I'll find out where we are in a moment' speech I could buy Hogwarts myself."

She giggled at her own joke but stopped when she realized that no one else was joining in; Izzy because she was busy glaring at her for what she obviously considered a small betrayal, and Fred and George because they were looking at her in complete confusion.

"What the bloody hell's a nickel?" they asked.

She sniggered at them a little from behind her hand. "It's American currency, kind of like your knuts I would guess. In America we don't have a different currency than Muggles, makes things too complicated." she explained.

They did not ask how she knew what a knut was- they figured that after spending a year fighting and living in England, it was obvious that they would've had to learn their magical currency by now.

"If you're quite finished explaining American economics, can we get on with the tour?" Izabelle abruptly interrupted, looking decidedly annoyed. "I've only been waiting to see this castle for about 10 years!"

Shawn's head gave a small shake. "Oh Belle, will you ever learn to control that temper?"

"No I will not!" exclaimed Izzy and petulantly stomped her foot. The other three could not contain their laughter at the sight of her crossed arms and pouting face. She looked thunderous for a moment then George noticed the corners of her lips begin to twitch and suddenly she was laughing just as hard as they were.

"Ok, ok, I give" she said, her laughter subsiding. Her blue eyes with those long black lashes went wide and pleading as she looked up at George. "Will you pretty pretty please with sugar and cherries and icing on top, show me the way to the common room now?"

And she just looked so adorable- he couldn't remember ever thinking the word adorable so many times in one day before- that George didn't even make fun of her. He smiled a genuine, happy smile at her and nodded.

"Up we go then" he said cheerfully, grabbing her hand as he swept passed her and started up the stairs. Little tingles began to make their way up his arm and when he looked down at Izzy climbing next to him, he was pleased to note that she was blushing again, the color standing out on her pale skin. She did not release his hand.

The walk to the Gryffindor common room was full of excited, non-stop chatter as the girls ooed and ahhed over the moving portraits, the enchanted suits of armor, the gliding ghosts. Every other second one of their hands was shooting out to point at this or that, their eyes enthusiastically round. They were utterly fascinated by the moving staircases, although Izzy gave a moan of frustration when she realized how difficult it was going to be to learn her way around the school with them constantly changing up on her, and they all laughed uproariously when they saw Peeves getting chased away by the Bloody Baron for throwing pieces of chalk at some Hufflepuffs.

Shawn and Izzy were particularly tickled, as apparently such things as poltergeists would _never_ have been allowed to roam free at the American Academy of Magic. The twins exchanged a look that clearly displayed exactly what they thought of places that weren't allowed fun-loving and tricksy poltergeists. Peeves was practically a friend, he had helped them wreak havoc and avoid capture so many times- and the way he'd lived up to Fred's order to give Umbridge hell still almost brought a tear to his eye.

In seemingly no time at all they had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Shawn looked up at Fred in confusion, her head tilting back rather far in order to stare at his face.

"This is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room?" she asked, feeling the solid stone wall next to the portrait's frame.

"Well of course it is" snapped the Fat Lady, annoyed at having been forced to open over and over for the last half hour as the students poured in. She'd thought she'd seen the last of them 10 minutes ago and was in a hurry to celebrate the new school year with her friend Violet and that group of wine-making monks on the fourth floor."Now do you know the password or not?"

"Phoenix" said the twins confidently, and the portrait swung open, grumbling, to admit them.

"Welcome to Gryffindor Tower" they said, and bent in identical bows, flourishing their hands as they gestured for the girls to climb in behind them.

"Is the password always the same?" asked Shawn curiously after she and Izzy had climbed through the hole and the portrait swung shut behind them with finality.

"Nah" said Fred

"What's the point of a password if it's the same every year? Everyone would know it." added George.

"Hermione told us the new one before the Sorting." explained Fred. "She got to make it up you know, as Head Girl and all that, could hardly restrain herself from telling everyone." He gave Shawn a pleased grin when she laughed.

George looked over the round room, noticing that the Golden Quartet was no where in sight, and gave a sigh of contentment. Surprisingly, he was no longer at all angry about having to come back to school; he found the sight of the crimson and gold furnishings, the groups of students happily talking, playing games, and yes-he noticed some WWW products being passed around as well- warmly familiar, almost better than it had to return to the Burrow and he let a sigh of his contentment pass his lips.

Izzy quirked an eyebrow at him. "Feels good to be back huh? Almost like coming home, I'd imagine."

George was a little startled that she seemed to effortlessly know what was running through his mind. He knew he wasn't always the deepest of thinkers- though decidedly deeper than he knew most people gave him credit for- but was he really that easy to read?

The idea did not settle well in his stomach- he didn't like to wear his heart on his sleeve and often didn't show his full depth. Sometimes it was a lot better when people underestimated you.

Izabelle shook her head at him a little and answered the question he hadn't asked. "Your face is really quite difficult to read compared to a lot of others, but I've spent an inordinate amount of my life studying people. I may have to work harder to read you, but it's not impossible, and the challenge just makes it more fun." She smiled brightly, but it faded when she caught his still disconcerted expression. "I could stop, if it'll make you feel better?" she offered apologetically.

For some reason this put him at ease and he realized he really didn't mind if maybe she saw something more in him than anyone else did, besides Fred anyway. Especially if she was going to do it by staring at him.

He gave her a sudden, wicked grin. "Nah, you go right ahead. It's impossible to not stare at something this good-looking anyhow, you'll only strain yourself." he said, puffing out his chest. Izzy rolled her eyes at him and gave him a small shove.

"You just keep right on believing that" she said with a patronizing pat to his arm. But her hand lingered a second too long on his thick forearms and she said it with a smirk that belied her statement. George's stomach did the weird flippy thing again. He was really going to have to do something about that, though what exactly he had no clue. Besides keeping a good distance from Izzy at least, but the idea held no appeal whatsoever. Guess he was just gonna have to live with it then.

A few minutes later they were all curled up by the fire, Fred and George having stared intimidatingly enough at the group of 3rd years sitting there that they'd scurried to a distant corner of the common room. The twins had smirked at each other- there were advantages to being the oldest students in the house.

"Are you really alright with Gryffindor?" Izzy was asking Shawn, pulling her fingers through her dreadlocks one by one as Shawn sat at her feet. Shawn was practically purring at her ministrations.

"Course I am!" she exclaimed. "Ravenclaw had some appeal, but you're right about war changing people. I think Gryffindor's the perfect choice." And to prove her point she whipped out her wands and pointed it first at herself, then at Izzy, changing their ties to Gryffindor red and gold from the standard Hogwarts black. Izzy laughed at her wide smile.

"Right you are. Guess I should get into the spirit of things too, huh?" Izzy asked mysteriously.

Shawn nodded her head vigorously and with that Izzy closed her eyes and for all the world seemed to fall asleep.

Fred and George looked at Shawn, their mouths opening to ask what the bloody hell was going on when a glitter of light caught their eyes and they turned their attention to Izzy.

As they watched the hot pink streaks in her hair deepened, until they became as crimson as the tapestries lining the walls. All over her head the blonde strands of hair were becoming more and more golden. When she finally opened her eyes and shook her hair around, the firelight danced along the strands, making it look almost as though her hair was part of the fire. She wrapped a bit of it around her finger and pulled it in front of her eyes for examination.

"What d'you think?" she asked. "Did I get the colors right?"

Shawn clapped her hands delightedly and nodded. "Perfect!" she assented.

"You're a Metamorphagus!" exclaimed George, his deep aqua eyes wide in astonishment. Metamorphaguses were extremely rare and the only other one he'd ever met was Tonks.

Izzy giggled in an almost wistful way. "Not really" she said, letting go of her hair and shaking it back into place once more. "I can't change my face or anything, just my hair color. Taught myself when I was about 10, before I even really knew I was witch. I guess it just stuck." She shrugged nonchalantly, as though everyone could do it, but George could see a glint of smugness in her face.

"Just stuck?" asked Shawn, her voice high with disbelief. "It's not like you ever gave yourself long enough to forget how to do it. You haven't been able to keep your hair the same color for more than 3 months since you turned 10! For 2 years I thought it was some weird sort of compulsion. Now I know that you just get bored far too easily."

"Oi!" said Izzy, giving Shawn's head a light smack. "You keep making fun of me like that and I won't play with your hair for _at least_ three months."

Shawn's eyes widened and she gave a little squeak, reaching up to place Izzy's fingers back onto her head. "What I meant to say was that you're such a brilliant witch it's no surprise at all that you can wandlessly transfigure your hair!" And she shot Izzy a pleading smile as they all gave a good chuckle. Izzy's fingers began their trek along another rope of hair.

They talked for awhile about lots of little unimportant things- favorite colors, favorite bands and some of the weirder differences between the USA and the UK, and before he knew it George was trying to unsuccessfully repress a huge yawn. Fred did the same, slumping a little into his armchair. The girls had gone quiet and were gazing drowsily into the shrinking fire.

He looked around and noticed they were the only ones left in the common room. He stood up and stretched, his back popping a little from sitting for so long.

"I'm off to bed" he announced to no one in particular.

Murmers of assent and agreement came from the others and they all stood up. Fred came to stand next to him and they looked down at their new mates.

"See you at breakfast" they chorused sleepily and when the girls nodded, giving them sleepy smiles of their own, they all made their way up to their respective dormitories.

Climbing into his big four poster bed with red velvet curtains, and settling himself under the sheets (giving his pillow a few firm jabs) George felt an unexpected wave of excitement at the thought of tomorrow. Classes would be starting, yeah, but he had a feeling they were gonna be a lot more fun with Izzy and Shawn around.

His thoughts were becoming slower, foggier; he barely heard Fred collapsing onto his own bed. His eyelids fluttered slowly shut, his long red lashes almost resting on his cheeks. A pair of blue-gray eyes sparkling in amusement rose behind his eyelids. Then he knew no more as he slipped gently into sleep, a small smile still adorning his face.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning dawned bright and sunny over the green forested hills. There was just a hint of chill in the Scottish air. The giant squid was floating lazily in the deep lake, the Whomping Willow was waving gently in the breeze, and there was a buzz of anticipation encompassing the castle.

The Great Hall was already half full for breakfast and throughout the school people were waking up and preparing for the day, some with excitement and some with dread.

But Izabelle Lyon was blissfully unaware of any goings on as she slumbered on her comfortable four poster bed. A large boot flew the air and landed with a loud thud on her belly.

"Ooof!" she grunted, her eyes popping open, hand grasping the wand she slept with under her pillow- a habit from the war that she had not yet been able to break- and her body snapped up into a sitting position, wand at the ready.

She looked around wildly for the attacker, heart hammering in her chest. She began to relax when she caught sight of the red velvet curtains and remembered where she was. "Wha's going on?" she asked around a yawn.

Shawn rolled her eyes as she turned back to the mirror and finished adjusting her crimson and gold tie, the finishing touch on her uniform, which was perfectly pristine from her crisp collar to her black Puma trainers.

"You're going to be late, that's what. And I don't feel like listening to you grumble all day 'cause you were too lazy to get up for breakfast."

Izzy groaned and flopped back onto the bed, shielding her eyes from the bright sun pouring in through the arched windows.

"There'll be lunch later" she whined. "Give me one good reason to get up out of the first warm, comfy bed I've slept in since we got to this country!"

Shawn twirled to face her, a knowing smirk curling on her lips as she smoothed her skirt.

"Fred and George are expecting us." she said, and she laughed long and loud when Izzy's eyes popped open again and she threw the covers off, diving towards the immense sticker-covered trunk resting at the foot of her bed.

After a few minutes of scrambling she had found and hopped into her uniform, threw a last few books and quills into her bag, and hurriedly ran a brush through her newly red and gold streaked hair.

"There!" she exclaimed with satisfaction as she tied the last lace on her dragon footed boot. She rubbed a little at the two sore spots on her torso as she stood up and swung her messenger bag over her shoulder. She shot Shawn a little glare where she was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, tapping her foot with impatience.

"You didn't have to throw the second boot at me you know, I was already awake! And if you're going to attack me with shoes, can you at least save me the indignity of using my own to do it?"

Izzy's voice was an irritated growl but Shawn hadn't been fazed by what she secretly dubbed the 'Morning Monster' for years. In all the time she'd known her, Izabelle had never once woken before 11 am in a good mood.

"If you could manage to wake up on time by yourself I wouldn't have to throw shoes at you at all." she retorted. She opened the door and Izzy marched out with a huff of annoyance. Shawn shook her head as she followed behind- some things would _never_ change. But she also found this thought highly comforting and she was smiling when she got to the bottom of the stairs.

Izzy was already waiting by the portrait hole, having obviously scanned the crowd in the common room and noted the absence of any red-headed twins.

"You were the one who was all hot to go to breakfast, could you at least keep up?" she grumbled when Shawn reached her.

Again unfazed, Shawn gave her a sunny smile and fixed Izzy's sloppily knotted tie, smoothing it down and giving a short nod when she was satisfied. Izzy tossed her head in impatience.

"Do you want to look like a complete mess all day? During your first day of classes? With the twins?" she asked.

Izzy glared at her, annoyed by her knowing smile.

"I don't care!" she pouted unconvincingly.

"Yes you do and you know it, first impressions and all that. Now get moving." And with a little shove, Shawn pushed Izzy through the portrait hole.

The walk to the Great Hall was rather uneventful- it was hard to get lost when there was a slow but steady trickle of students all heading in the same direction. Shawn had had to fling out her arm to stop Izzy from resting her weight on the trick stair second from the bottom, but they didn't run into Peeves and within minutes were headed towards the Gryffindor table.

Izzy's eyes danced over the Great Hall, taking in the different houses, the colors, the majestic view of the mountains through the cathedral windows. She stopped and looked up at the bewitched ceiling, sighing a breath of wonder- it really was like eating under open sky.

Her eyes swooped down again, coming to rest not just on the Gryffindor table, but the bright aqua eyes of George Weasley, who was staring at her while sitting sedately next to Fred, who was talking animatedly to an older black boy with short dreads.

For the tiniest of moments she forgot to breathe. He really was dashingly handsome, George Weasley. His eyes reminded her of the clear Caribbean waters she'd fallen in love with during her one trip to the tropics. Even though he was sitting his head still towered above nearly everyone else (except his brothers') and his brand-new looking robes were tailored well enough that she got a fair look at his strongly muscled Beater's body. And his voice! She nearly swooned at the thought of it. She could listen to that deep, accented baritone all day long.

Also, she was startled to realize, she loved his hair. She'd never much liked ginger haired men but whenever the flame colored strands of the long shaggy fringe that fell around his noble-featured face caught the light, she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. She imagined what it would feel like running through her fingers- would feel as silky as it appeared?

'Stop it' she told herself firmly, giving herself a good shake. 'You just met the man. There's no call to be daydreaming about his hair.'

But deep down she knew her internal scolding wouldn't do any good. She knew that when she fell for someone she tended to do it fast and hard, no matter how desperately she fought it or how many times she'd gotten her heart broken because of it.

She was startled from her thoughts when she realized that the bright blue eyes she had been staring into were directly in front of her instead of 10 feet away, shining in amusement as she was wrenched back to reality. She hadn't even felt Shawn grabbing her arm and walking her to the seats across from Fred and George, which were mysteriously empty given the fact that the rest of the table was jam full.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a bright yellow canary shedding its feathers and turning into a surprised looking girl. The girl shot Fred a nasty glare but he just grinned and promptly turned his back to her.

With a shrug Izzy settled herself in her seat across from George.

"Mornin'" she offered him with a sleepy smile, reaching for a piece of bacon from the tray in front of her.

"Mornin Izzy" he replied, his voice deeper than usual with sleep (Izzy fought off a shiver). He gave her a sleepy smile of his own and started in on his scrambled eggs.

'Guess George isn't much of a morning person either' thought Izzy, for some reason feeling as though this connected them in someway. She shook her head at her own ridiculousness, rested it on her hand, and chewed thoughtfully on a piece of toast.

Fred and Shawn seemed to be as compatible as her and George, at least when it came it mornings.

They were arguing the benefits of fruit vs meat for breakfast with bright enthusiasm. There was even some flourishing hand gestures on Fred's part, which sent the scrambled eggs on the edge of his fork flying into the unsuspecting eye of some poor second year half way down the table. He apologized with a quick shout and started straight back in on the point he'd been making.

Izzy's lips curled into a smile as Shawn laughed at his antics (which only encouraged them). She did love a good, friendly debate in the mornings; something Izzy had never been able to pull off- she didn't debate before noon, she shouted, swore, and threw things.

She was startled out of her thoughts when a piece of cream colored parchment appeared on her plate. Realizing it was her new class schedule, Izzy snatched it up, finally fully awake. Her eyes scanned swiftly over the timetable, a relieved smile coming to her face. Since the seventh year was mostly for studying only what you wanted to take N.E.W.T.s in, it appeared she got to have the same schedule everyday.

During her extreme obsession with learning about the British magical school system she had discovered that it was normal for the students to have completely different schedules for different days. Given her awful sense of time and direction she had not been looking forward to it taking months to learn her daily route and get to classes on time. Having the same schedule every day reduced the time it would take to about 2 weeks.

"What are you so pleased about?" asked George sourly. "This here is a harbinger of boredom and time-wasting." Apparently George _really _wasn't a morning person. He hadn't even looked at his schedule yet.

"Aww c'mon!" said Izzy happily, anxious now to get to her first class. "It won't be that bad, we're bound to have some things together after all. And classes with me are never boring." And with that she snatched his schedule from the table and put it side by side with her own.

She gave a happy little trill. "Told ya! We've got 5 whole classes together, including Care of Magical Creatures, which is good cause I know Shawnee isn't taking that one and I didn't wanna do it alone." She was talking fast enough that he could barely understand her, her voice an excited buzz.

George snorted a little, but he did look a cheerier, and grabbed the schedules to see for himself when Izzy abruptly turned to examine Shawn's.

"Five classes together for us of course" she muttered in a satisfied tone as she look over the timetable. She heaved a happy sigh and flung Shawn's schedule back onto the table.

"Only one class by myself."

"Uh, Izzy" interrupted George, his brows furrowed adorably (_stop it Izabelle!_) in confusion. "I don't think this is your schedule- it says you're taking History of Magic. There is no N.E.W.T. for History of Magic!"

"Oh no, that's definitely mine" she said, unconcerned, and going back to her half-eaten toast. "Professor McGonagall made an exception for me and Shawn to take it. Couldn't pass up an opportunity for a whole year of European magical history- the American history classes were appalling."

In utter horror, Fred choked on the gulp of pumpkin juice he had just taken. No one voluntarily took Professor Binn's mind-numbing history class, not even Hermione Granger. George pounded him on the back as he gasped, laughing at him heartily.

"I think what my oh-so-eloquent brother is trying to say is- you're what now?"

Shawn giggled as she rolled up her schedule and put it in her bag. "We're voluntarily taking History of Magic with the most boring professor to ever cross the threshold of this castle, even though we can't earn a N.E.W.T. for it, because we're the biggest history geeks you'll ever meet." she said succinctly.

Completely flabbergasted, the twins couldn't think of a single thing to say to such an insane announcement, shook their heads at what had to be American insanity, and the subject dropped.

Breakfast passed in friendly banter between bites of egg, bacon, and toast. When their plates were clear and they couldn't dawdle any more for fear of being late (which Shawn and Izzy insisted would _not_ be acceptable on the first day) they swung their bags over their shoulders and set out on their journey to the 3rd floor.

Izzy's heart pounded a fluttering tattoo against her chest when George rested a large, warm hand on her back to steer her through the crowded hall and then they were off to first period Charms with the Ravenclaws.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello faithful readers! A great big Thank You to everyone that's bothered to review or put me on some kind of favorite/alerts list! Updates will be slower while I have work, but this story will be completed, and steadily. Anyway, usual Disclaimers apply, and here's Chapter 7.

The Charms classroom was completely packed with students by the time they arrived, with barely enough desks to sit them all. George, Fred, Izzy, and Shawn hurried over to the back left corner and collapsed into the last four open desks. Hermione turned to shoot them a disapproving glare at their near-tardiness. Fred playfully stuck his tongue out at her.

George, who had completely forgotten that they would now be in the same classes as Ron and his friends, couldn't repress a groan. The last thing he needed was little miss bushy-haired goody-two-shoes, the girl his brother was so whipped by cracking sounds followed wherever he went (ok, he and Fred had been making them but still!), sitting there in all his classes, asking questions, glaring disapprovingly at troublemakers, and all in all ruining whatever good time he usually gleaned from an hour's worth of being stuck inside a classroom.

Not that he didn't like Hermione, he did. She was clever and brave and brilliant, but she was also tended to be a stick in the mud that reveled in docking points from anyone that was engaged in a bit of fun, especially him and Fred. And she could be just plain bloody _irritating_. Actually being in classes with her was going to be an absolute punishment all of itself, he just knew it.

With a nearly inaudible growl, he lazily turned his attention to Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice as he finished up his annual welcome speech. Fred stopped sending balls of paper down the back of Lee Jordan's shirt with flicks of his wand.

"Now then," Flitwick said, perched on the pile of books that tottered on his chair seat. "For this first class we're going to be starting off nice and easy- can anyone tell me what the incantation is for a Deconstruction Charm?"

George gaped at the tiny professor as he leaned back and balanced his chair on its back legs. That was supposed to be _nice and easy_? Alright, he knew what it was and he knew Fred knew what it was, but that was only because they'd found it amazingly useful in making their products, being able to instantly disassemble things to see how they worked. However, he did not raise his hand to answer, and neither did Fred, as he'd known he wouldn't.

They didn't answer questions in class, unless directly addressed, on a matter of principle- if the teachers started to realize how smart they were, the more would be expected of them, which only meant even more schoolwork. And George and Fred Weasley were positively allergic to schoolwork.

Only one person would know the answer to that question and actually answer it, and yup- as if on cue Hermione Granger's small hand shot above her bushy hair. Then he almost fell off his chair, as it returned to all fours with a thunk, amazed when the two brightly nailed hands of Izzy and Shawn shot straight up in the air as well, not a millisecond later.

Flitwick seemed very pleased at having so many unexpected options to choose from.

"Yes, Miss Lyon" he finally said, pointing at her. As one, the entire class's heads swiveled in surprise to where Izzy sat between George and Shawn. Hermione looked positively shocked, fully turned around in her seat up front to see who had taken her glory.

"The incantation for deconstruction is _distribuo_, from the Latin for 'divide', and is used to divide material things into their individual parts." she said effortlessly, completely unconcerned with being the center of everyone's attention. She flipped her flame-streaked hair over her shoulder with a flick of her wrist.

Professor Flitwick gave a little clap, "Well done, Miss Lyon, very well done. 15 points to Gryffindor."

He turned to the blackboard set up behind his desk and waved his wand at it- the instructions on how to perform the deconstruction charm appeared instantly.

As they broke up into pairs and waited for Flitwick to float them the clock they were going to be practicing dismantling, Hermione shot Izzy a poisonous look. It seemed that just because two witches were crazy about academics and books they were not destined to be best mates. In fact, it was turning out to be a positive recipe for enemies.

'Granger never did share the spotlight well when it comes to academics' thought George with a smirk. 'And it looks like she's not the only star in town anymore.' (He was rather fond of those Muggle sayings).

Well, well, well, there may be some hope for some in-class fun and entertainment this year after all. Fred shot him a look, gleeful eyes wide with anticipation as he followed the same thought process.

Unfazed by the heat in Hermione's gaze, Izzy just gave her a smug smirk and a playful wink, which Hermione did not seem to appreciate at all as she sat up straight and sent George a glare as if this were all his fault.

He shot Hermione a mocking grin and a little one shouldered shrug and she turned to her clock with a huff, clearly off balance as she waved her wand and bits of clock went flying all over the room, Ron, Harry, and Ginny ducking in alarm as bits of spring and cog missed their heads by centimeters.

Wow, she really didn't take well to competition.

"How did you know that?" asked George as they filed out of Charms class, all of them pleased with their Deconstruction Charms but grumbling about the foot long essay they had been assigned on them. It looked as if their N.E.W.T. year was going to be as hard as their O.W.L. year after all.

George and Fred had taken their clocks apart effortlessly, having done the charm so many times before. Izzy and Shawn each managed a perfect one on their second tries. Hermione had been furious- it was the first time in living memory that she had been bested in a Hogwarts' classroom when the students in question hadn't been cheating by reading from a tampered book.

Izzy's smile brought the term 'the cat who ate the canary' to mind.

"I memorized the Standard Book of Spells Grade 7 months ago," she said smugly. "Well, me and Shawn both did" she amended, throwing an arm around Shawn's shoulders, being careful to avoid pulling on any of her dreads. Shawn nodded, still buzzed off her first class being such a success, and smiled happily.  
>"Why didn't you answer the question when you knew the answer?" Izzy retorted, a shrewd look on both her and Shawn's faces.<p>

George blinked at her in surprise. How did she know that he knew- oh right, her whole studying people (especially him) thing. She was kind of spooky when she just popped out with things like that; things that most people never looked for or noticed about him. That was gonna take some getting used to, that was.

Her lips curled in a knowing smile, as though she could read his thoughts as they flew across his mind; he almost wouldn't put it passed her.

"Because if they knew exactly how brilliant and talented we were" he explained, his deep voice matter-of-fact, "we'd never get a moment's rest to indulge in what really matters in life."

"Like fun and parties" said Fred, picking up the conversation effortlessly. "And pulling pranks and making mischief." He gave a gentle tug on one of Shawn's dreads. She swatted his hand away, but the smile on her face said she was flattered by the attention.

"Sneaking around" George piped up.

"Nicking food from the kitchens" said Fred with a wistful sigh, visualizing a parade of Hogwarts' house elves brandishing platters of pies and custards, butterbeers and teacakes, under his nose literally begging for him to take them.

"You know, the important things." the twins finished together, the rumble of their voices perfectly in sync.

Izzy and Shawn laughed appreciatively as they reached the courtyard, crossing it to get to their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Everyone was on tenterhooks to see who'd be teaching it this year- there had been no announcement at the Welcome Feast.

They were partially across the flagstones when George caught sight of a familiar little yellow custard pie being handed to an unsuspecting Hufflepuff. He gave an internal whoop- watching people fall victim to their Weasley Wizard Wheezes never lost its charm and Fred _had_ promised the girls a first-hand demonstration.

He stopped abruptly, and hauled on Izzy's arm to halt her as well. In his excitement he ended up pulling her a bit too hard.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed as she thudded into his chest, inhaling sharply in surprise. The woodsy scent of deep forest, the sharp tang of something like gunpowder, and an indefinable deliciousness she could only describe as 'masculine' hit her nose. Hot sparks shot their way through her veins, overwhelming her senses, and a tingling warmth ignited in her belly. She tried desperately to put the rumble of George's voice into words.

"Sorry, didn't mean to pull so hard" he was saying apologetically, his breathing a touch more labored than it had been a minute ago.

Izzy's curves fit against him perfectly and the vague scent of apples and cinnamon was wafting to his nose. It was the most wonderful smell, and brought with it memories of sunlight and warm, happy winter days at the Burrow. Without another thought he bent it a fraction closer to the top of her head, inhaling deeply, almost groaning when the delicious scent hit him again. It was her hair then.

Izzy shook her head to clear it, the sunlight bouncing off her curls and broke George out of his trance with a start.

"Are you alright?" he asked, staring at her with such sincere concern that Izzy couldn't help but smile up into his deep cerulean eyes reassuringly.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she said. "Bit…startled is all."

He noticed her voice was a little breathy and the pulse in her porcelain neck was pounding ferociously, but he did not call her on it, feeling it would be way too easy for her to call him on his own noticeable reactions. However, he was endlessly pleased that he wasn't alone in this…whatever this thing between them was.

He also did not spare a look for Fred and Shawn where they were standing together with their arms crossed, their eyes flittering between George and Izzy as though they were watching a very riveting tennis match, knowing smirks on both their faces.

George flashed Izzy a sunny smile. "Good, 'cause your about to catch your first glimpse of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." he said, the excitement evident in his voice. Izzy's gaze followed curiously in the direction his hand had swept up to point to.

A tiny little boy was eating a bright yellow custard pie and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it. Her brows furrowed in confusion and her head tilted a fraction to the right.

"You bake sweets?" she asked, her voice flat and deadpan.

Fred threw her an insulted scoff. "Bake sweets?" he asked incredulously. "Are you daft? Just wait and see."

And sure enough, as the boy finished the last bite of pie with a flourish and began to lick his fingers. Izzy was about to ask if there was a point to all this when he suddenly burst into a bright yellow canary. Izzy gaped at the little bird hovering in midair for a split second then broke into peals of delighted laughter.

George and Fred burst into laughter right behind her and slapped themselves on the back a few times as if in congratulations.

Shawn was giggling behind her hand, as though she felt just a bit guilty for finding the prank so funny, but when she finally stopped to draw a long breath and her hand dropped, there was a huge smile on her face and she seemed completely relaxed for the first time.

"He's gonna be ok, right?" she asked, biting a little on her lower lip.

Fred's smile was fond and reassuring. "Course he is." he said bracingly.

And again, as if on cue there was a great outward explosion of feathers and the little boy was sitting there once again, already laughing himself.

"That was brilliant!" Izzy exclaimed, an impressed eyebrow quirked at the twins. "And a damn fine piece of magic too."

They shrugged nonchalantly with modest grins but she could tell they were pleased at the praise and her and Shawn's enjoyment.

"That was a Canary Cream." said Fred.

"New and improved, actually. Takes a little longer for the change to happen so you get that extra moment of anticipation and the charm lasts a little longer too" added George, his voice laced with pride.

Izzy thought he had every right to be proud- if all their stuff was this good, they were bloody geniuses and she told them so.

George blushed a little and Izzy got the feeling their creativity wasn't always that appreciated. And indeed, George had been imagining one of the high-volume rants his mother was so fond of giving when he and Fred had first opened the shop.

Although, he had to concede, she'd been much more accepting when she'd seen how successful they were and how much their products helped in the war and all. Still, a bit of appreciation was always welcome and he grinned at Izzy, giving her a little wink; she instantly smirked at him.

"Oh no!" said Shawn suddenly, worry lacing her voice as she stared at her watch. "We're going to be late!"

Izzy laughed at her fondly as she said, "Calm down Shawnee. We've survived the first night and our first class, rather brilliantly I might add." Her voice turned playful. "And to top it all off I can't get us lost with these handsome blokes as guides." Her head jerked a little towards the twins and it was her turn to flash George a playful wink.

Shawn laughed. "Good point" she acceded.

But it was time to get moving if they were going to get across the castle in time to grab some good seats and they were all looking forward to this class.

As proper guides, the twins raised their elbows, offering each girl an arm. Izzy laced hers through George's as Shawn laced hers through Fred's and together they marched happily off to their next class, chatting as easily as if they'd been friends for years.


	8. Chapter 8

They arrived at Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins early enough to grab four seats in the middle of the room, the twins plopping down in the aisle seats, the girls placing themselves in the middle ones between them. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the row directly in front of them, whispering amongst themselves as usual.

The teacher had not yet arrived and the students were speculating wildly about who it was going to be.

Shawn took her textbook, some parchment, and a self-filling quill from her bag and began to arrange them on her desk to hold her nervousness at bay, letting the chatter wash over her.

She was always nervous on the first day of classes- all those variables that couldn't be divined, like what the teacher would be like, how hard would the subject be, how well she was going to fit in with the other students- she hated it.

'Well, not so much the last one,' she mused as Izzy giggled at some of Fred and George's antics. She didn't so much care what anybody thought if she had Izabelle beside her.

She and Belle had always been close, ever since their first serendipitous meeting when they were 14. But this last year, fighting a war in a foreign country, practically on their own, nearly dying every other week, had bonded them closer than sisters and made both of them fiercely independent from most people.

'Especially Belle' Shawn speculated silently, idly doodling on a corner of parchment. There had been a moment, near the end of the war, where Belle had truly thought that Shawn was going to die. And Shawn had to admit that it'd been a pretty narrow escape from death on her part. But she _had_ survived and that was the important thing!

Unfortunately, Belle had been completely and utterly devastated and terrified by the experience, and had become even more ferociously protective and exclusive than she already was, which was really saying something.

Shawn sometimes liked to think of Izabelle as her very own guardian dragon, complete with occasionally fire-breathing.

But the worst part of the whole thing, Shawn decided, was that it had made her so frightened of losing someone she loved that she now refused to get close to anyone at all. She'd never exactly taken to most people, but these days Belle kept her heart tightly locked in an iron box, and she only took out the key when her and Shawn were alone.

Which was why Shawn was so happy to see her opening up and letting some guards down with George and Fred. Hell, she was amazed that Belle was willing to spend so much time with other people at all (though she should've known cute boys would be just the thing to help snap her out of it).

'And it's not exactly a chore, hanging out with Fred and George,' she thought when Fred doodled a little arrow through the heart Shawn had been unconsciously tracing. Her green and gold flecked eyes snapped up to his mischievous blue ones and he jerked his ginger head towards the front of the room, where an older witch with a medium build and dark hair, obviously the so-long awaited for professor, was waiting for everyone to settle down.

Shawn came to attention immediately, just in time to hear Harry whisper in surprise, "That's Hestia Jones!"

"She's one of the Order, she helped get the Dursleys to safety." He explained quickly at everyone's curious stares. Harry knew _everyone_; which was possibly fair, as everyone knew him. He didn't have a chance to say any more as Hestia Jones began to speak in a somewhat husky voice.

"As some of you already know"- she shot Harry a little smile-" I am Hestia Jones and I will be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I was a member of the Order of the Phoenix during the war and have seen my fair share of battle, as I know a lot of you have."

Several of the students plastered smug grins on their faces, proud at their defense of the school. Several other students' eyes had taken on a haunted look, lost in memories of the horrors they had seen.

Professor Jones continued. "Keeping such things in mind, and the fact that while the war may be over, Dark wizards still lurk in the shadows and constant vigilance must never waver- and while we will still have occasional lectures, and you will be required to do homework- this class will focus mainly on dueling."

An excited wave of chatter broke over the room at this announcement- this was what had been hoping for! No copying out of textbooks or being forced to learn the Dark Arts, but a skill they would actually need, something that could save their lives! In the aftermath of such times, nothing was so enticing as a skill that could ensure one's survival.

Shawn was absolutely elated- dueling, she could do as easily as breathing.

As a start up exercise to gauge everyone's proficiency, Professor Jones began to separate them into four groups that would duel each other in pairs- two sets of Gryffindors and two sets of Slytherins. Perhaps she felt that pitting Gryffindor against Slytherin was tempting fate a little too much, with tensions and nerves still strung so sensitively after the war.

A lot of these students had watched others fight and kill their parents and loved ones, and grudges born from war are vicious and deep. Pit them against each other and the whole class was liable to end up in the Hospital Wing.

Shawn had hoped to be paired against Fred, if only to get a look at his skill and to show off just a little, but as luck would have it she was paired with none other than Hermione Granger.

Hermione was sizing her up with a calculating look on her face, and a smirk appeared as if she had already won when she caught Shawn looking at her.

'Oh, we'll see about that honey.' thought Shawn, gleeful with anticipation, 'The term 'appearances can be deceiving' was invented for me.'

Professor Jones brought the class to attention. "Now this is just a simple exercise to get a good idea of everyone's current level of skill. The only spells you are allowed to use are _stupefy_ and _protego_!" she said sternly. "Anyone caught dueling in anything resembling a serious matter will be sent straight to Professor McGonagall!"

Some of the Slytherins muttered darkly at this, but there were no objections and half of the students marched quickly to the other side of the room, where they waited for Professor Jones to call their names.

The first few pairs of students were Slytherins who all managed passable Stupefying Curses, but deplorable Shield Charms. Harry's Stupefying Curse only just managed to break through Ron's Shield Charm, and Ron amazingly managed to stun Harry before he could even get his Shield Charm in place. An astonished Ron blushed darker than his hair when Hermione beamed proudly at him and Harry shot him a shout of "Well done Ron!"

Shawn bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet- there didn't seem to be any discernable order to the names being called and therefore she had no idea how long she was going to have to wait. Two Gryffindors named Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan were up next. They were both rather good, though Seamus did somehow manage to singe a bit of Dean's eyebrow off.

Izzy grabbed her arm and bounced excitedly in place at the next pair- Fred and George against each other. Shawn knew she'd been dying to found out how good their fighting skills were- for Belle almost nothing was so revered as combat capabilities and grace in battle. Belle had always loved war- the strategies, the weaponry, military hierarchy, even the politics that ran it all. But the war had made her an out and out warrior herself, and she had fallen into that habit that so many warriors often do- she couldn't respect anyone as an equal that she didn't trust to watch her back in battle, which disqualified everyone that couldn't match her own abilities. And in the past year her already note-worthy abilities had grown by leaps and bounds.

If Fred and George held any chance at proving to Belle that they were worthy of her true friendship and admiration, this was it. Shawn fiercely hoped their war hero statuses weren't just idle gossip based on their good looks and family name.

The twins were facing off on opposite sides of the classroom, wands hanging loosely at their sides. Rather than the jokes Shawn had expected them to be shouting at each other, a few choice insults perhaps, they were staring at each other in complete seriousness.

For one…two…three long moments they just stared at each other, each one of their gazes neither blinking nor wavering from his twins'. Then there was a flurry of movement, so sudden and fast Shawn barely caught it.

Fred's arm swept up in an astonishing blur, no sound leaving his lips as the red jet of his Stunning Curse burst from his wand tip. As fast as Fred had been, George was faster, and a nearly opaque Shield Charm was in place before the curse was halfway across the hall, and it bounced off harmlessly when it hit. It was a nearly identical performance when they switched roles, though Fred was a touch slower getting his Shield Charm up.

They moved almost seamlessly as one, with the grace of having fought more times than could be counted.

There was a round of clapping, Belle loudest of all, as the twins grinned at each other and shook hands in the middle before stepping back to join the group of students that had already gone.

"War does wonderful things to men" said Izzy with a little sigh, a huge, impressed smile on her face. Shawn laughed at her silliness, but internally she was extremely relieved that the twins had done so spectacularly well. Not only was she impressed at their prodigious skill, but _Izabelle_ was impressed, a feat in and of itself. Yeah, there was definite hope for those two.

Then the moment she had been waiting for arrived.

"Hermione Granger and Shawn Vulpis" called Professor Jones.

Izzy squeezed her hand for good luck and gave her an eager smile. Even though she knew how good Hermione had to be, fighting Voldemort with Harry and Ron like that, Izzy knew how extraordinary Shawn was.

While Izzy may have had a tendency to be extremely protective of her Pixie (Izzy snorted as she imagined what would happen if Shawn ever found out that was her secret nickname), it was only because it was in her nature to be so and because she was still so paranoid from the war, not because Shawn needed the protecting. As Hermione Granger was probably about to find out, Shawn Vulpis could take care of herself very well indeed.

Shawn and Hermione stared at each other appraisingly; Shawn's wand hanging at her side in a loose grip, Hermione's drawn up and at the ready. Shawn smirked at her- going immediately rigid and on the defensive like that made her easier to read than a 'Run Spot Run' book and it seriously limited her ability to change her aim quickly. Instantly factoring this in with her plan of attack, Shawn brought her arm up and arced her wand through the air with liquid grace. Hermione blinked in surprise and ended up being a hair too late to stop the Stunning Spell from hitting her.

Fred, George, and Izzy (whose proud smile literally stretched from ear to ear) whistled and clapped wildly; Ron and Harry were staring at Shawn with astonishment written all over their faces, and several people were now looking at Shawn much more seriously than they had been before. Tiny and pixie-like she may be, but she packed one hell of a punch!

Hermione looked absolutely furious when she was revived, but her face settled into stony determination as she took her place across from Shawn once more. Now it was Hermione's turn to attack, and she took her time with it, drawing out the seconds as Shawn studied her for any signs of movement. When she finally attacked, it was only by the softest flicker of her eyelash that Shawn was able to anticipate it in time. As it was, her Shield Charm sprang to life at the very moment Hermione's Stunning Spell hit it.

Smiling widely in relief (that had been a close one- Hermione did have skill, no doubt about that) Shawn strode forward to shake Hermione's hand, the sound of applause ringing in her ears.

"Well done" Shawn complimented her sincerely. "If I'd been even a hair slower on that Shield Charm, you would've gotten me for sure!"

Hermione wanted to hate her and say something scathing, Shawn could tell, but looking down into her earnest face she didn't seem to have the heart for it.

Shawn wasn't surprised; people usually seemed to want to hate her for some reason, but very rarely did anyone ever actually manage it. Izzy said it was because she was just 'so damn bright and pretty and just plain _nice_' that no one could resist being friends with her for long and Shawn was happy to see her proven right once more.

Hermione grasped Shawn's hand, smiled at her, and said, with only a slight grudge in her voice, "Well done you too. That's one of the fastest stunning spells I've ever seen."

"Thanks!" beamed Shawn. "I had a lot of opportunity to practice recently," she said dryly, referring to the year of guerilla warfare she had survived. A surprised Hermione joined her in a small laugh, then they dropped hands and returned to their respective group of friends- Hermione to Ron and Harry, Shawn to Fred and George.

"That was bloody brilliant" Fred told her when she reached them. He had a broad grin on his face as he tucked a fat, gold galleon into his pocket; for some reason George had a sour look on his face about it, but he gave Shawn equal praise and she dismissed it. Now they just had to wait for Izzy's turn.

They sat through another 20 agonizing minutes as the students faced off, some of them showing remarkable skill, others surprising incompetence, before Professor Jones finally called Izzy's name and that of her partner, the one and only female of the Weasley clan- Ginny.

"One galleon on Ginny to win" murmured Fred to his brother.

'So that was what that galleon thing had been about!' realized Shawn. 'They made a bet on me and Hermione's duel and Fred won!'

She couldn't help but be a tiny bit pleased that Fred thought so highly of her when he had known her such a short time- not very many people would have bet on her to win that duel.

George shot Fred a speculative look- he had no idea how well matched his sister and Izabelle were, not enough that he was sure he wanted to bet on it anyway. Ginny was an absolute hellcat but Izabelle had displayed some insane skills in the short time he'd known her. Before he could decide on whether the bet was worth it, Shawn piped up from beside them.

"I'll take that bet Fred Weasley" she declared confidently. "You haven't seen a duel until you've seen Izabelle Lyon fight one."

Fred and George blinked at her in surprise, eyebrows identically quirked, but Fred shook her hand on it and managed to keep the patronizing shake of his head to a minimum- he'd learned to never make a bet against his sister the hard way; Shawn would too.

They turned their attention to where Izzy and Ginny were standing at the center of the dueling field, heads bent together, seemingly in discussion. Shawn titled her head, puzzled.

What on earth could they be discussing? You stood on opposite ends of the room, pulled your wands out, and did your best to attack and/or defend. It was quite simple really.

She rolled her eyes- Belle was always making things unnecessarily complicated and dramatic. They were about to see a perfectly planned show, she just knew it. Ah well, at least she'd be one galleon richer in about two minutes.

With a firm shake of hands, Izzy and Ginny turned in opposite directions and marched to their respective sides.

"Traditional, then?" shouted Izzy mysteriously.

"You're on" Ginny responded.

Then each of them very deliberately put their wands into the holsters that were strapped almost invisibly against their thighs. Shawn laughed silently as she realized what Izzy had been planning- an 1800s Wild West style showdown. It was traditional, all right- as traditional as it got in America anyway. Shawn felt she should've seen this coming.

Shawn knew that Belle compulsively wore her holster everywhere, always ready at a moment's notice. Guess Ginny Weasley did too. Smart girl.

Shawn licked her lips in anticipation, her eyes flickering between the red head and the dirty blonde.

They faced each other straight on, hands hovering lightly over their wands in a strange magical mimicry of cowboys. Shawn expected a tumbleweed to come rolling by any second now.

Ginny's fingers twitched slightly, her only betrayal of nerves, and lightening fast Izzy's wand was in her hand, her arm was arcing fiercely through the air and a huge red jet erupted from her wand.

Ginny was only a breath behind her, and managed to create her shield charm before the enormous comet-like curse hit her, but the curse was so powerful that the shield could only weaken it, not stop it, and Ginny was thrown a good foot backwards.

The room was completely silent for a moment, and then a wave of hushed chatter broke from every corner of it. Fred and George gaped at Izzy, stunned and wide-eyed. She looked utterly pleased with herself and she winked at them, then blew Shawn a little kiss as Ginny was revived.

"Ginny's still got her turn" Fred muttered to Shawn when he saw the told-you-so look on her face.

"Again?" Izzy called when Ginny had resumed her place across from her.

Ginny arched an eyebrow at her, shoving her wand into her thigh-holster. "Yes, again" she said as if irritated by the question.

Izzy smirked; Ginny was as good as she had expected her to be but Ginny had obviously underestimated her skill. Izabelle was a show off, but mostly because she had skills worth showing off.

Izzy knew Ginny would not make the same mistake again and holstered her wand with pleasant anticipation, lovely pulses of adrenaline racing through her.

Shawn held her breath as the two girls stared at each other, the whole class completely silent as they watched and waited. And watched. And waited. And then watched some more.

Finally, with a flutter of movement, Ginny grasped her wand, flinging a stunning curse at Izzy as she brought it up through the air, and it sprang from her wand to race across the room.

Izzy's wand was in her hand, again lightening fast, and while the shield charm that appeared instantly in front of her wavered a bit when Ginny's spell hit it, it still held.

Applause burst from all around the room, George's piercing whistle loudest of all, and Izzy gave a small bow as her shield charm vanished.

"That'll be one gold galleon" Shawn prompted Fred, putting out her hand for her winnings. Fred dropped it into her hand, shaking his head in wonder. How had she done that?

"National Duelling Champion, four years running" Izzy said breathlessly as she came bouncing over to them, in answer to his unspoken question and dumbfounded look. "Didn't I mention?" She smiled coyly at George who eyed her with deep admiration.

"Your sister's brilliant" she continued, still buzzed from her duel. "Even better than I thought she'd be." She turned and flashed Ginny a thumbs up where she was being hugged by Harry. Ginny sent her a thumbs up back.

"Well she had the best teachers," said George pompously, gesturing between him and Fred.

Their laughter was interrupted by Professor Jones's husky voice.

"Well done everyone!" she said approvingly. "For homework I want a foot long essay on the benefits and disadvantages of shield and stunning spells, and I want you all to read chapters 1-3 for our next class. You are dismissed."

The students groaned at the amount of homework, but it wasn't enough to dampen their spirits as they left for their next classes.

Hanging around until all of them had gone, as was becoming their usual, Fred, George, Izzy, and Shawn were the last to exit the classroom.

As Shawn swept through the doorway, she didn't bother to look around at her surroundings, too busy laughing as George imitated one Slytherin student's particularly embarrassing stunning. Which was why she didn't see the large 7th year Slytherin boy skulking next to the doorway in the shadows.

All she knew was one minute she was looking into George's handsome face, then the next moment there was a blur of black and Shawn was on the ground, a huge troll-like figure on top of her, trying to pin her wand arm to the floor.

Izzy did not stop to think or process what was going on- she saw Shawn in danger, a crimson curtain fell over her sight and she simply reacted. Her wand was out and pressed forcefully against the boy's neck before Fred and George could turn around to see what the hell was going on.

The boy stilled as she pushed on his neck with more pressure and Fred and George each grabbed one of his arms and hauled him to his feet.

He glared at Izzy and Shawn with immense hatred on his troll-like face, quivering with rage.

Izzy took a deep breath, her wand pointed at his face, her hand rock-steady.

"You must be carrying one hell of a grudge to attack us after the performances we just gave" Izzy said, her voice cold, emotionless, and calculating. Her head tilted to the side, as it tended to when she was studying something, but her eyes were cold and dead.

Shawn shivered at the sight of it as she picked herself off the floor. Belle was eyeing him like a predator eyes its prey, which meant things were about to get very bad and very dangerous. And she was using the voice that meant she was locking herself away, preparing herself for one of a hundred atrocities that she would be willing to commit for Shawn's safety.

"That was very, very stupid of you" Izzy said with a mocking shake of her head.

The boy growled and struggled against the twins' grip, but he could not break them. They eyed each other nervously over the top of his head- they didn't know what was going on here, but Izzy was becoming quite unsettling. They each looked down a different direction of the corridor- it was deserted. Well, at least there wouldn't be any witnesses.

"I will kill you, you filthy mudblood Yank!" the troll-boy spat at her. "Both of you. For what you did to my parents."

Izzy's eyes widened just a touch and she peered even more closely at the boy's face.

"You're Christopher Montague aren't you?" she asked, a peculiar look on her face, her voice softening just a bit.

Shawn gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, and the twins looked at her, their eyes begging for an explanation. She shook her head silently at them- some things you didn't share with people you'd known your whole life, let alone ones you'd just met.

"That's right," the boy growled from between Fred and George.

Without another word Izzy waved her wand and uttered "_petrificus totalus!_"

The boy instantly froze in place, his eyes still glaring at her with hatred.

"You can let go of him now" she told Fred and George, and they obediently backed away, not wanting to accidentally trigger an incident that would surely get them all expelled.

Izzy ignored the curious gaze of George as she stepped up to Montague, who was stuck standing with his arms held back, until their noses were almost touching.

"I'm giving you a free pass this one time" she growled softly, staring into his eyes. "Just this once, on account of what I did to your father. But if I ever, and I mean _ever_ see you lay one finger on her again"- Izzy pointed to Shawn and Montague's eyes followed her finger, then snapped back to the blue gray orbs mercilessly holding his gaze-"I will kill you." Shawn knew it was not a threat, it was a promise.

"I will not warn you, I will not wait for a teacher, and I will not show mercy. I will simply kill you." Izzy continued. "Do you understand? Good."

And with that she backed up a few steps, swung her leg up and kicked him in the face with a dragon-hide booted foot. Blood spurted out of Montague's nose as he hit the floor. She turned her back on him and went to Shawn, running her hands over her arms and checking her for injuries. Shawn gave her a wobbly and grateful smile, still breathing harshly. It faded when George asked cautiously, "What, exactly, did you do to his father?"

Izzy regarded him for a moment- the serious face, the earnest blue eyes that held real concern. Shawn held her breath-would Izzy actually tell him what she had done to the man responsible for most of her nightmares?

Finally Izzy spoke, her eyes staring straight into George's, her voice flat and emotionless.

"I killed him."


	9. Chapter 9

Hello again faithful readers! This here is a really short chapter compared to the last few but I couldn't just leave you all hanging like that ;-). And there will probably be another chapter posted in the next day or so. Enjoy!

-Auvrea Rose

Izzy stared up at George defiantly, Shawn squeezing her tightly, as she waited for the judgement that George would surely pass on her.

She had not planned on telling him, or anyone, about this-one of the most horrible things she had ever done, indeed the only thing she had done in 13 months of war that gave her nightmares- not for a very long time, if ever, and certainly not like this. Telling him after having only known him two days was unthinkable but circumstances dictated some form of explanation.

The twins had sprung to their defense without a thought, remained silent while she took care of things her way, and had been nothing but kind, helpful, and all in all wonderful since they had met. They were the first people she had met in this country that she had even remotely considered herself capable of becoming close to and she wanted desperately to cling to the dream of real friends she had so long considered out of her grasp.

But she would give George the chance to back away first- to get out before he got pulled any deeper into the mess that her life was apparently destined to be.

But George did not back away. He continued to stare at her expectantly, somehow knowing that if he spoke she would run like a scared rabbit.

When Izzy finally realized that the judgement she was waiting for was not going to come, at least not without an explanation, her heart began to slow its terrified tattoo.

She had not realized until that moment how important it had been to her that he at least give her the chance to explain, that the first person besides Shawn to see a glimpse of her true self did not run immediately in the opposite direction.  
>Slowly she drew a breath and said "I'm bastardizing a rather long and thrilling tale, but long story short is that, that boy's father, Montague Senior, was a Death Eater who near the end of the war was trudging around Northern England in search of any and all Resistance fighters in hopes of bringing us back to Voldemort and earning himself a few extra brownie points with his beloved 'Dark Lord'. Ironically, he found us one day while we were out hunting for Death Eaters. He grabbed Shawn and Disapparated with her. Took me three whole days to track him down and when I finally found him…let's just say he didn't give me much of a choice. It was us or him, and I choose us any day."<p>

She opened her mouth to continue, but she had completely exhausted her sharing quota for the day and closed it again.

Luckily the twins seemed satisfied. George smiled at her in understanding.

"Well that's alright then. I'd choose you too." he said with a wink, trying to lighten the tense atmostphere. Izzy smiled gratefully at him, relief shining in her eyes.

They had all been pushed to extremes in the name of survival and George was not going to begrudge her doing what she had to do. If Fred had been kidnapped, his wrath would have shaken the very heavens. And he knew what it was like when you were terrified the one person you loved most in the world was going to die. Oh yes, he could sympathize with Izzy all too well.

And no matter how well she could take care of herself he vowed to keep a very close eye on Christopher Montague.

"Uh guys, not that I'm not enjoying the sharing of our deepest darkest secrets, but if we miss our first History of Magic class I am going to be really upset." Shawn said timidly, afraid to break whatever spell it was that was making Izzy share so freely.

"Oh bullocks!" Izzy cried, startled out of the moment. "We're going to be late!"

And she immediately started marching down the hall-in the wrong direction. Shawn, Fred, and George waited by the door as she came to a halt about 10 feet away.

She turned back to them. "I'm going the wrong way again, aren't I?" she asked, a rueful smile on her red lips.

Seeing her standing there, looking so helpless and lost yet again, the tension between them finally broke and all four dissolved into laughter.

"C'mon" said Fred finally, a hand falling onto Shawn's shoulder. "We'll take you to class- if we leave it up to Izzy here you won't get there til tomorrow."

Izzy glared at him and stuck out her tongue with a huff as they started towards Professor Binns' room.

"It's not my fault I have no sense of direction. And don't call me Izzy!"

"But George gets to call you Izzy!" Fred whined, an offended look on his face.

Shawn giggled at him- he was going to have to learn that in the world of Izabelle Lyon not everyone had equal status and only her absolute favorites were allowed to call her 'Izzy'. In fact, only one other person that Shawn knew of had ever been allowed to call her so and their relationship had been of an extremely intimate nature.

"Well…well…that's different," Izzy stuttered as she blushed hotly, not willing to admit that the sound of George calling her 'Izzy' made her tummy do this pleasant flippy-thing.

George snickered at her and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"It's alright _Izzy_, I won't let him tease you. It's because you find me so irresistible isn't it?" George joked, though he was watching for her reaction very carefully. He was not disappointed.

"You are way too full of yourself George Weasley!" she said hotly, shrugging his arm off her shoulders, but her blush was a pink so dark she could've easily competed with Ron's.

That remark had hit way too close to the truth for Izzy's comfort. She'd only known George for two days but she felt more drawn to him than she had ever been to anyone, had shared more of herself than with anyone in recent memory, and had to physically fight her body's responses to his. Which all together scared the ever-living-daylights out of her.

She wasn't the silly little girl that believed in love at first sight any more- all of this was happening too fast for her to process.

After what happened to Shawn she had sworn not to let herself get close to anyone else like that ever again; it was never worth the pain when they were ripped away from you. And they were always ripped away from you eventually, whether it was by Death Eaters or just nature. Everything dies. She could not let herself get carried away with this- she would protect her heart, no matter the cost.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the twins stopped in front of the room that must be the History of Magic class. The corridor was deserted- everyone was inside already.

"I'd like to hear the long and thrilling version of that tale sometime" George whispered to her as she turned to go through the door.

Izzy's eyes flickered fearfully up to his curious aqua ones.

Her lips twitched into a faint smile. "We'll see" she said simply, then turned her back and followed Shawn into the room.

She imagined the look on his face if she told him the whole story, every nasty little thing she had done to that Death Eater. He would run screaming from her if he knew, she was sure. But she could not put out the little spark in her chest that ignited when she imagined him wrapping her in understanding arms, accepting every part of her.

Izabelle sighed. She was aware that she was probably going to lose this battle against falling for George Weasley, but goddamn it she had to try. She had promised herself, and now she had to try. But he wasn't going to make it easy, she just knew it.


End file.
